USING CLEANING CARTRIDGES ON THE EPSON STYLUS PRO 3800 & 3880

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1 USING CLEANING CARTRIDGES ON THE EPSON STYLUS PRO 3800 & 3880 The following instructions explain how to fill and use cleaning cartridges on an Epson Stylus Pro 3800 or Cleaning cartridges provide an ideal method of flushing out a printer when changing ink types or preparing the machine for storage during periods of non-use. They are also a handy service aid for unblocking partially clogged print heads. However, they will not unblock a completely clogged print head as there is no way for the cleaning fluid to travel through the ink system to get to the dried ink in the print head. Because of this, cleaning cartridge should only be used when some jets on each print head are working the working jets will allow the cleaning fluid to travel through the ink system and dissolve the dried inks in the clogged jets. Cleaning cartridges for the Epson Pro 3800 and 3880 are supplied as refillable cartridges along with Ink2image Dead Head cleaning fluid in bulk bottles. INSTALLING REFILLABLE CARTRIDGES Refillable cartridges are designed for use with bulk inks or cleaning fluid supplied in bottles. Refillable cartridges can be purchased individually, but are generally supplied in starter kits that include an initial supply of ink or cleaning fluid. Ink2image refillable cartridges are simple to install and easy to use. However, the successful use of the system is dependent on how accurately you follow this guide during installation. Please read these instructions and familiarize yourself with the system components before you start the installation. Please also remember that you are now about to start working with bulk liquid instead of sealed cartridges. During installation, protect the area around your printer in case of ink spillage and wear the disposable gloves included with the kit. Have a roll of paper towel handy. Remember, accidents can happen! Cleaning cartridges are generally installed in every channel on a printer, rather than individually by color. The reason for this is that an initial fill routine is used to fill the ink system with cleaning fluid. Unfortunately, Epson printers do not have built in fill routines that allow individual channels to be filled with cleaning fluid. Instead, the initial fill routine fills all channels at once. Even if you only want to clean a single channel on a printer, it is more economical to use cleaning cartridges in every channel rather than waste more expensive ink during the initial fill process. SYSTEM COMPONENTS 1. 9 x Refillable cartridges with bridge chips x Syringes x Syringe needles x Tapered syringe end adaptor (1 spare). 5. Instruction CD or printed instructions. 6. Pair of gloves.

2 IMPORTANT WARNING The Ink2image refillable cartridges for the Epson Pro 3800 or 3880 require the use of a set of chips from original cartridges to operate correctly. These chips are placed below the Ink2image bridge chips that are supplied with the refillable cartridges. Removal of the chips from the original cartridges and installation on the Ink2image cartridges is simple and is fully explained in these instructions. However, installing the Ink2image cartridges in a printer without original chips installed, or without the Ink2image bridge chips installed, can result in damage to the printer. Ink2image will not accept responsibility for any damage caused to a printer by installing refillable cartridges without original chips and bridge chips installed. STEP 1 INSTALLING CHIPS FROM ORIGINAL CARTRIDGES As mentioned above, the Ink2image refillable cartridges for the Epson Pro 3880 or 3880 require that each cartridge is fitted with a chip from an original cartridge. The original chips are coded differently for each color and it is very important that correct color chip is fitted to the correct color In2image cartridge. We strongly recommend that you work through this process color by color, removing the chip from the original cartridge and installing it on the corresponding Ink2image cartridge one at a time, so that no mix up can occur. The Ink2image bridge chip that comes with each refillable cartridge is also coded differently per color, so it is important that you install the correct color bridge chip on the correct color cartridge. If you do mix up the Ink2image bridge chips, then the cartridge color is written on each chip i.e. PK for Photo Black, Y for Yellow etc. You can use original chips from empty cartridges without issue. Unlike other types of bulk feed device for the Epson Pro 3800 or 3880, the Ink2image system works fine with fully depleted cartridge chips. IMPORTANT NOTE If you are going to use chips from original cartridges that are currently installed in your printer i.e. an original cartridge has just run empty on the machine and you are going to remove the chip from it and install it on an Ink2image cartridge, always close the cartridge bay lid after removing the cartridge and before installing the Ink2image cartridge. This will not harm your printer and you can open the cartridge bay lid again when you are ready to install the Ink2image cartridge. This process of closing the cartridge bay door each time after removing a cartridge or cartridges is important in making the Ink2image bridge chips read the ink levels correctly. To remove the chip from an original cartridge, use a sharp knife to cut off the top of the plastic stud just in front of the gold chip contacts as in this picture. Try to avoid touching the gold contacts with the knife when doing this.

3 Once you have trimmed off the top of the plastic stud, use the knife to lift up the edge of the chip. The chip can now be pulled off the original cartridge. Try to avoid touching the gold contacts on the chip when handling it. Take the refillable cartridge that corresponds to the color of the original chip you have just removed, and remove the bridge chip from the cartridge. Removing the bridge chip is very simple simply use a small screw driver to lever up the plastic at the end of the bridge chip as in this picture. Once you have levered up the end of the plastic, the bridge chip can be completely removed from the cartridge. Take the original chip and place it into the recess in the top surface of the refillable cartridges as in this picture. The bottom surface of the recess has two lugs molded in that line up with the two holes in the original chip, so that it can be located correctly. Now take the bridge chip and gently push it down on top of the original chip. The bridge chip will snap into place flush with the top surface of the cartridge, as in this picture. The bridge chip has spring loaded pins that line up with the gold contacts on the original chip below. Repeat this process of removing original chips and installing them beneath the bridge chips for on any of the other colors you are going to install at this time.

4 STEP 2 FILLING THE CARTRIDGES WITH CLEANING FLUID Filling the refillable cartridges is very simple, and is done by injecting cleaning fluid through the ink fill hole on each cartridge using the syringes with needles fitted that are supplied with the kit. The first time you fill a cartridge, there are two additional steps that need to be performed before installing it in the printer (see step 3). If you have purchased the refillable cartridges for use as cleaning cartridges, then you would simply fill them all with Ink2image Dead Head cleaning fluid instead of ink following the instructions below. Before filling a cartridge, make sure that the cartridge has an orange plug fitted over the air port. This is very important as it will stop any ink from getting into the air pressurization system on the printer. You should always fit the orange plug over the air port every time you remove a cartridge from the printer for refilling. Place the cartridge on some paper towel with the ink fill hole upwards as in this picture, and remove the rubber bung from the ink fill hole. Using a clean syringe with needle fitted, draw up a syringe full of ink from the correct color ink bottle. Double check that you are using the correct color ink corresponding to the color of the cartridge filling the wrong color ink into a cartridge will mean that the cartridge has to be replaced. Gently inject the ink into the cartridge until the syringe is empty, as in this picture. Refill the syringe and continue injecting ink into the cartridge until the cartridge is full. It will take nearly three complete syringes full of ink to fill the cartridge. Use paper towel to wipe any ink from the surface of the cartridge, and return any ink in the syringe back to the correct color bottle.

5 After filling the cartridge, make sure you insert the rubber bung back into the ink fill hole. STEP 3 REMOVING AIR FROM THE CARTRIDGES This step is only necessary when filling a cartridge for the first time. When you refill a cartridge, you simply need to perform step 2 only. Place the cartridge in its side, as in this picture. Take a clean syringe needle and pierce a hole in the clear plastic film covering the ink exit port. DO NOT PUSH THE NEEDLE INTO THE CARTRIDGE you are simply using the needle as a tool to make a small hole in the film. Remove the orange rubber plug from the air port. Take the syringe you used to fill the cartridges with ink, remove the needle, and push a tapered end adaptor onto the end of the syringe. Gently push the tip of the tapered adaptor through the hole in the film and into the rubber seal in the ink exit port. Now pull on the syringe plunger to extract air from the cartridge until you get a flow of ink into the syringe, as in this picture. Remove the syringe and adaptor from the cartridge, and return any ink in the syringe to the appropriate color ink bottle. Replace the orange rubber plug over the air port before moving the cartridge. You can now top up the cartridge with ink again as in step 2 above, if you wish. Wash out the syringe and adaptor using water under a faucet. The cartridge is now ready for use. Repeat steps 1, 2, and 3 with any cartridges you want to fill and use at this time.

6 INSTALLING AND USING THE CARTRIDGES You install and use the cartridges in the machine just like normal cartridges. Just remember to remove the orange rubber plug from the air hole before attempting to install the cartridge in the printer. As mentioned above, whenever you remove a cartridge or cartridges from the printer for refilling, always close the cartridge bay door after you have removed the cartridges. This ensures that the chips will read correctly when you reinstall the cartridge or cartridges. The bridge chips on the refillable cartridges show as permanently full on the printers display. The best way to use the refillable cartridges is to regularly open the cartridge door on the printer to visually check the ink levels in the cartridges the transparent design makes it very easy to check inks levels. Once you have installed all the cartridges, run an initial fill routine as described below. This will fill the printer s ink system with cleaning fluid. Ideally, leave the printer to sit overnight with the cleaning fluid installed and allow any dried ink deposits to dissolve. Remove the cleaning cartridges from the machine and replace the orange rubber plugs on the air port of each cartridge. Install ink cartridges and run another initial fill routine to fill the ink system with ink. The machine is now ready for use. Refillable cleaning cartridges can be kept and re-used should you need to clean your machine again in the future. RUNNING AN INITIAL FILL ROUTINE There are two ways of performing an initial fill routine on the Epson Pro 3800 and 3880 one quick and the other more time consuming. Both require that the maintenance tank on your machine has at least 25% capacity remaining. The quickest method is to purchase the Epson Service program which then enables you to set an initial fill routine that will automatically fill the printer with ink or cleaning fluid. The service program can be downloaded for a small fee from Simply go to this website and enter your printer make and model in the search box and this will take you to all downloads for the printer. Service manuals are also available that show you how to disassemble and repair your printer if you are technically minded. If you decide to get the service program, then use this to quickly fill your machine with ink or cleaning fluid. The more time consuming method of filling your printer with ink or cleaning fluid is to run three power cleanings from the maintenance menu on the printer control panel. This should ensure that any new inks or cleaning fluid will travel from the cartridges through to the print head. A way to check is to make a full color print on scrap paper after running the three power cleans. If you are filling the printer with cleaning fluid then printed output should be relatively colorless. If you are filling the printer with ink then the printed output should be normal. If this is not the case then one further power clean should be sufficient. 30 DAY GUARANTEE TO REPLACE DEFECTIVE PARTS Ink2image guarantees all parts are defect-free for a period of 30 days from the date that you receive your new Ink2image refillable cartridge system. If you have received a defective part, please initially contact the retailer or dealer from where the system was purchased. DISCLAIMER Because Ink2image refillable cartridges are self installed by the user, Ink2image is not responsible for any damages to your printer, whether they are or are not related to the Ink2image refillable cartridge system.

7 Please contact the store or dealer where the printer was purchased, or the printer manufacturer for any problems or questions related to the printer and its operation.